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Museums & Galleries · Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe Museum

📍 EX34 8AF

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Ilfracombe Museum

Photo: Andy Dingley (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

  • Morse code station where you can send your own messages
  • Make a brass rubbing or try the dressing up box
  • Natural history displays of birds, mammals, bats and butterflies
  • Free Shipwreck Trail included with museum entry
  • Curio App lets you scan QR codes for object stories

Ilfracombe Museum is an independent charity museum housed in the former laundry of the old Ilfracombe Hotel, founded in 1932 by collector Mervyn Palmer. Inside you'll find an eccentric mix of natural history, maritime heritage and local stories, with birds, bats and butterflies on display alongside a morse code station, brass rubbing, dressing-up box and a free Shipwreck Trail. The Curio App adds audio and enlarged text for easier access to exhibits. It suits families, history enthusiasts and anyone with a curious mind, and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm (last admission 4.30pm), closed Mondays and Sundays. Set in Ilfracombe, North Devon, it's just 0.2 miles from Ilfracombe Tunnels Beach, with 165 bookable places to stay within 5 miles and Barnstaple station 9.8 miles away for onward travel.

Practical details

Open
Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–5pm (last admission 4.30pm), closed Mondays and Sundays
Best for
Families, history enthusiasts and curious visitors
Accessibility
Curio App offers audio and magnified text for exhibits

From the attraction's own website on 15 Oct 2026 — check before you travel.

Facilities

  • ✓ Disabled Access
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Places to stay near Ilfracombe Museum

Make a proper break of it — these stays are all within 25 miles.

0.1 mi
Capstone Reach

Capstone Reach

🏖️ a few minutes' walk from Ilfracombe Tunnels Beach (Closed water quality)

Ilfracombe, South West England

Sleeps 5

£407 per break

Check availability
0.1 mi
0.1 mi
0.1 mi
The Carlton Hotel

The Carlton Hotel

✓ Victorian hotel in the heart of coastal Ilfracombe

🏖️ a few minutes' walk from Ilfracombe Tunnels Beach (Closed water quality)

Ilfracombe

Check availability
0.1 mi
0.1 mi

🗓️ Make a break of it

Turn a visit to Ilfracombe Museum into a proper getaway — ready-made plans, and the drive worked out with fuel, EV charging and the best stops.

🗺️ Plan the drive to Ilfracombe Museum

🚆 Or come by train

Live trains to Barnstaple →

Straight-line distances · live departures on each station page

Directions ↗